TDK to Start Making Heads for TAMR-Based Hard Drives in 2014

TDK Corp. has announced that it had developed magnetic head for thermal-assisted recording that is capable of enabling 1.5Tb/inch2 areal density for hard disk drives that may emerge as early as in two years time.

At Ceatec trade-show in Japan, TDK revealed its magnetic head for thermal assist recording that uses near-field light to heat the medium, which is expected to hit mass production in 2014. The new head will be used for hard disk drives that will be based on platters with areal density of approximately 1.5Tb/inch2 (1.5Tb per square inch), which is around two times higher than today, reports Tech-On web-site. TDK claims that with 1.5Tb/inch2 areal density the bit error rate (BER) is 10-2.

The new technology will enable 1TB platters for 2.5" hard disk drives as well as 2TB platters for 3.5" hard drives, which will let companies like Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital to produce 2.5" HDDs with up to 2TB capacities and boost capacities of 3.5" drives to 8TB - 10TB. In addition, the new tech will enable new capacity-points for ultra-thin 5mm and 7mm hard drives.

TDK did not reveal many details about its new development, but said it used medium from Showa Denko K.K., a leading maker of magnetic media for hard disk drives.

While TDK promises to start manufacturing its magnetic head for thermal assist recording that uses near-field light in 2014, it is unclear when does Showa Denko K.K. initiates production of supporting medium and hard drive makers to actually utilize both elements. Theoretically, the first breed of TAMR [thermal-assisted magnetic recording] HDDs may emerge in late 2014.